Oceanography

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Transcript of Oceanography

Oceanography Water on Earth Northern Hemisphere is 60% water Southern Hemisphere is 80 % water Water covers more of Earth's surface than land About three-quarters is covered by water World Maps Most maps we view show North America on the upper left and Asia on the right Equator below the US The largest feature on the planet is cut in half Pacific Ocean How does this change our view of planet Earth? "Upside Down" World Map How does this new viewpoint help us to think differently about our planet? How does it help us think differently about world maps in general? The Global Ocean The most dominant feature on the surface Very thin relative to the whole planet Ocean ~4 km deep on average Earth surface to core ~100,000 km Atmosphere ~2000 km Human uses and impact Much of the world's food supply comes from the ocean Coastlines have always been places where ideas and goods have been exchanged Until air travel was available, much of human history has been linked to how people have used wind and ocean currents in their travels around the globe Migrations Colonization War All the oceans are connected Anarctica is only slightly larger than Australia Currents Ocean currents move clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere Coriolis effect Our earth is covered by ONE interconnected world ocean that circulates around all the continents More concentrated insolation at the equator than at the poles Energy distribution between the equator and the poles causes a temperature gradient Currents flow in an attempt to even out the distribution of energy Currents flow from high to low temperature Ocean currents move water throughout the world ocean Huge amounts of sea water moving fairly steadily in a given direction for long periods of time Warm currents move from the equator to the poles; Cold currents move from the poles to the equator Importance of the world ocean Regulates Earth's temperatures Retains heat (latent heat) due to its high specific gravity Helps to keep the planet cool during the day and warm at night Oxygen half the oxygen we breathe comes from phtosynthesizers in the ocean Strongly affects wind, precipitation, and air temperature Great Ocean Conveyor Pollution trade ships Overfishing